Completing Projects
Back in January, I started a creative reboot, which was inspired by reading Chase Jarvis's book, The Creative Calling. In the book, Chase talked about the importance of having a creative practice and gave what was basically a 4-step method for starting and maintaining that practice. One of those key steps was picking a project and seeing it through to completion.
I picked two projects going into the first quarter. First was the continuation of the Naturalist's Journal. I didn't get far with the Journal this quarter, but more about that later. The second was actually a mobile photography project.
One thing I have enjoyed since moving to Texas are the sunsets. During the summer, the sun is so bright that you can barely stand to look at the sky. But the sunsets are gorgeous. They have such deep rich colors almost every night. Then when there are scattered clouds, it's like a giant splashed the sky with incandescent paint, with beams of sunshine poking holes through the canvas. When I leave work, I generally go out through the back door. There, I immediately have a view of the clock tower on the other side of the drill field, and in January the sun is setting directly behind it. It's a great view.
Every few days, I found myself taking photos of the sunset. In the heat of the moment of one particularly colorful evening, I decided that this would make a good second project. I decided to take a photo every day when I came out of work. It would be about the same time, and I would do it from the same spot (there is a corner of a parking space that I used to mark the place). I would take photos for a year and then compile them into a slideshow or video.
The problem was, there weren't fantastic sunsets every day. Some days were just cloudy, and as the year progressed, and the days started getting longer, I quickly realized that soon I would just be taking pictures of blue sky most days. I admit it, I got bored with the project.
Yet, I had committed to Chase's method, so I decided to stick it out. I did have one concession, however, instead of a full year, I would only take these photos through the end of the quarter. I was only about a month in at this point, so doing it every day for two more was about all I could commit myself to.
So, I took the photos. Every day.
I took the last photo on March 31, and was feeling pretty good. Then, a couple of weeks later, I realized I wasn't done. I still had to compile all of the photos into a presentation or video. At this point, the schedule of working in Student Affairs had kicked into high gear, but I remained committed to putting a video out there. In a few off moments I put together a short little video and now that the year is wrapping up, I'm posting this as a means of sharing. Was it the most artful, technical, or creative of projects? No, but it is done. I had kept the commitment to myself and "seen the project through to completion."
What I didn't anticipate was the effect this would have on my creative practice. I got a jolt of excitement and more importantly, I have a desire to do more work. So, I'm going to ride that and see if I can get some more momentum.
What have you done lately that has helped your creative practice and motivation? Let me know in the comments or on my social channels.
